


Red-Eyed Mice

by anotherdirtycomputer



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Genderfluid Character, Humor, Mental Illness, duchess the dog, ernest is silly, genderfluid lucien, mentions of homestuck, one day i'll finish a longer ddadds work i promise, platonic, sibling fic, they're siblings and act like siblings ajkds, this is a short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-11 02:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12924978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherdirtycomputer/pseuds/anotherdirtycomputer
Summary: Lucien is having a shitty day. Ernest is a pretty decent step-brother.





	Red-Eyed Mice

**Author's Note:**

> welp, looks like im back on my bullshit :/ this fandom is hella dead but i hope the niche audience that ships vegamarch and likes stepsiblings lucien and ernest and also likes genderfluid lucien and..... 
> 
> aaaaaaaand i just realized how self-indulgent this is. BUT i do hope you enjoy! <3

For not the first time today, Lucien catches herself sighing deeply. She doesn’t mean to be in such a sour mood -- she never does -- and even with her  _ darling _ step-brother yapping on and on about his dog (yes, the same one he’s well-aware she’s allergic to), it’s hard to remember the few “depression rules” she picked up from therapy. 

“And then she bit him!” Ernest gleefully continues, his story barely distracting him from tapping away on his phone. “It was kind of amazing.”

Lucien hums, hardly paying attention anymore. Despite it all, her stomach is in knots, anxiety pulling at her insides. The odd anger hasn’t settled, either; instead, she grinds her teeth, breathing deeply and trying not to think. She cares about Ernest, whether she wants to or not, and his big dumb dog, too, but he hasn’t managed to distract her well enough today. It’s obvious he’s trying.

“Well, she didn’t  _ bite _ him-bite him… Then they probably would’ve had to put her down and I’d have had to kill him.  _ But _ she jumped on him and did her big slobbery thing and he was terrified!” The light in his eyes is a bit malicious. Lucien appreciates that now, if little else. “Man, that guy’s an asshole.”

Lucien doesn’t remember what guy they’re even talking about -- probably some nerd from school that Ernest was friends with last week and will continue to be friends with next week. Ernest has a habit of fighting with the few friends he has. Lucien knows this well, as she’s one of them.

“Well,” She turns over on her side in her bed, glancing over to Ernest’s beanbag. She looks right through him. “I’m glad Duchess almost killing a man can bring you so much glee.”

“Me too,” says Ernest genuinely.

Lucien breathes a quiet laugh, but even  _ that  _ sounds like a noise of frustration.

Ernest doesn’t look up from his phone. “What’s your issue, anyway? That story was great. All my stories have been great, but you’re as stank-faced as ever.” His voice isn’t cruel or even upset; Lucien and Ernest may have a strange, halfway-antagonistic relationship, but at the end of the day, they’re siblings.

In her mind, Lucien shrugs. “It’s one of those,” she says simply, barely a whisper.

She doesn’t really know what’s wrong, either, beyond the fact that she’s sick in the head. Part of her wants to go back to therapy, but the rest of her remembers how little it helped her. It’s easier to just lay on Dad or Ernest and watch anime or sit with Hugo for an art film or wrestling match. It helps to be with people; distract herself from everything. Everyone’s busy, though -- besides Ernest, who’s trying.

Her brother is looking at her from over his phone, trying and failing to look nonchalant. “You, uh,” he coughs. “You wanna do something?”

“Like what?” She knows it’s a dumb question. They could do any number of things, but if she’s honest, she just doesn’t want to leave her room today; not because of depression trash-feelings, but because Duchess leaves fur everywhere on her ways in and out of Ernest’s room, where she spends her nights, and Lucien really can’t handle allergies on top of brain gunk. 

Ernest slides out of the beanbag chair and onto the floor, splayed out obnoxiously. “Do you wanna sneak out?”

She laughs, clearer this time, and answers honestly, “No, dummy. To do what, even?”

“I don’t know,” he grumbles. “Anything! I hate being cooped up at home.”

“Then don’t get grounded.” She smirks at Ernest. “ _ Dummy _ .”

Phone forgotten on the ground, Ernest groans. “It’s not my fault! Duchess is the one who bit him.”

“I thought she didn’t really bite him?”

He shrugs. “He complained and I got in trouble. Dad said if I got in trouble again, I was grounded. And now here we are.”

Her smile falls a bit. “Sorry you’re stuck here with me.” She doesn’t mean for it to come out so nasty, but it does.

Ernest furrows his eyebrows at her, not offended. “Don’t act like I wouldn’t be out with you somewhere if I wasn’t grounded. If anything, you’re the one stuck here with me.”

Lucien pulls herself up onto her elbows to stare at him. Then, she shrugs. “I guess so,” she says. “But what would we be doing? It’s, like,  _ Sunday _ .”

“Hmm…” Staring at the ceiling, Ernest smacks his lips a couple of times in thought. “Seeing a movie, maybe? We can do that here if you want me to run down and steal the living room T.V.”

Oh, that would make Hugo happy. Lucien shakes her head. “We can watch something on my laptop if you want to.”

Ernest’s head whips up, eyes hopeful. “Really?”

She shrugs. “Sure. What’d’ya wanna watch?”

“Uh,” he says helpfully.

Looking unamused, Lucien blinks at him. “Okay. How about we open where we left off on Homestuck so I can prove you’re Karkat?”

“No!” The glare on Ernest’s face could kill a man. “I’m not some weird gay alien dude!”

Lucien can’t help laughing. “You so are!” She shouts. “You  _ so _ are!”

“No!”

“Yes!” Lucien is smiling now, chest a bit lighter. “Get the lint roller and get more Duchess hair off and then sit next to me. I’ll open it up.”

Ernest replies with a sophisticated, “ _ Ugghhhhh _ ,” but he gets up to grab the lint-roller. She knows it’s just for her benefit (he’d argue a lot more if she wasn’t so upset today), but she also knows Ernest really doesn’t mind indulging Lucien’s interests that much. He needs to break out and indulge in things that  _ aren’t _ romantic comedies, anyways. Get some culture in his diet.

Ernest grumbles as he stomps back into the room, sliding next to Lucien on the bed. “You know, I never asked to have  _ you _ for a --” He glances at Lucien. “Uh.”

She smiles. “A sister. Today, anyways.”

He grins crookedly. “A sister!” Then, realizing his mistake, says, “I mean -- fuckass!”

Lucien wouldn’t be surprised if Damien and Hugo can hear her laughter all the way downstairs.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are a writer's best friends!


End file.
